CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- A group of 'research scientists-in-the-making' will present the results of their summer research projects on biology, chemistry, physics and earth science at the Merck/American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Summer Undergraduate Research Meeting that begins at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 2, on the University of Northern Iowa campus.

Some 40-50 UNI students in UNI summer undergraduate research programs in the natural sciences, including six Merck/AAAS scholars, will participate in the meeting in the Seerley Hall Great Reading Room. They will display posters describing their work and be available to discuss their research

Clifton Chancey, head of the UNI physics department will open the meeting with a presentation titled 'How Is a Neuron Like an Elephant?' Student posters will be exhibited from noon to 1:30 p.m.

'For students, summer research is an experience that coalesces what they have learned in individual courses into a coherent picture,' said Carl Thurman, associate professor of biology, who is directing the Merck/AAAS program. 'And faculty have an opportunity to work with some of the brightest students on campus.'

UNI is one of 15 U.S. colleges and universities that received an award from Merck/AAAS. The program, which aims to promote interdisciplinary research experiences among undergraduates, is funded by the Merck Company Foundation, a private charitable foundation established by pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck & Co., and administered by the AAAS, the world's largest federation of scientific and engineering societies.